Prodigal daughter
by kembernorton
Summary: a twist on the prodigal son, he is a she and it in present day Las Veges, college paper in truth
The only kind of angel that Angela would ever be accused of being is one from hell, the teen mom did nothing since coming to Vegas but get into trouble. Which would explain why she was currently in a holding cell in the police station.

"Angel, Angel, Angel," Detective Jackson said shaking his head as he saw the teen.

"Yeah, yeah," Angela said, "look, I already did my time, can I go now?"

"Ange, who's looking out for your kid if you're in here for a possessions bust."

"Sister Peg's lookin' after Joey for me; said she'd ask one of the girls in the shelter to help out with him too," Angela said. It was well known that Sister Peg was the one of the few people that the working girls could trust. She didn't judge them or hand them over to law enforcement, she helped make sure they kept themselves 'clean', and was always ready to pick them up if they needed a ride or a safe place.

"Angela, you need to listen to me," Jackson said as he unlocked the cell door. "You can't keep this up. you come back here once more and the captain said he would have to press charges. Joey'll go away forever. is that what you want?"

"Jack, I love my son," Angela said in all seriousness, losing the street talk that she always spoke in and allowing the New York accent to color her voice, "I will do anything to protect him. He has to eat, and I don't have any skills to help with that 'cept my negotiation skills. So you tell me, what do I do? sell the stuff or myself?"

"Talk to Sister Peg. maybe she can help you get back home."

"Nah, Jack, I can't go back," Angela said, "I seen too much…done too much. Hell, I got a kid at 16."

"Angel-baby, you keep this up and you will die, then who will look after Joey if your family doesn't know that he even exists."

"I think about it," Angela conceded. Think about it, what was she thinking? there was no way that she could go home. her father would be so disappointed in his little angel. Not to say anything about how hard working Angelo would take having a nephew. But still… maybe she couldn't go back home again but Joey should have the chance to live a good life, to have the chances that she had thrown away. it wasn't his fault that she was an idiot. He didn't ask to be born to a junkie.

"So you thinkin' a heading home," Sister Peg asked as she loaded her van with her usual supplies.

"It's what's right for Joey. my dad may not take me back but he will Joey," Angela said looking at her baby boy sleeping "that's all that matters."

"May take you too."

"Nah, I ain't an optimist, Sister, and life has taught me a lot, mostly that hope and family is a luxury that I gave up. I won't let my son pay for my mistakes."

"Look, don't take this the wrong way or nothing, but I don't wanna see you around here again," Sister Peg told her as she gave her a hug, "You deserve so much more than this, and you know it, both of you do."

As Angela sat on the greyhound bus she wondered what her father would say. Hell, she wondered what her brother would do. It didn't matter, so long as they took Joey, so long as he was safe it didn't matter what happened to her.

Still she couldn't hide the shame. Everything that her mother had left to her was gone, everything. She was loaded up with so many drugs and was with so many guys that she didn't even know who Joey's father was. If it hadn't been for Sister Peg, and Jackson, she knew that she would never have survived. Next to her, Joey started to fuss. "it's alright Joey, Mama's here. Mama will always be here," she cooed to the little boy. "We're just going on a little trip, we're going to see Mama's family…let's just hope they want to see me."

Angela stepped off the bus and looked around New York never did change…and yet changed every day. She looked for a place to stay for the night and found a hotel. It was nice enough and had a good name, "Angel's Haven." Angela picked up the phone and dialed the operator.

"Hello I would like to call, Mr. Joseph Garner please," She asked. She didn't know what to expect. But the message on the answering machine was definitely not on the list of things that she had thought would happen.

"Daddy," she spoke softly, "I'm coming home."

The next day she was…well she hadn't felt this way in a long time so it had to be happy. She had thrown away all her old clothes…well donated them to Sister Peg's thrift shop and got a few outfits that would hide her tattoos and scars. Walking up the driveway it seemed like forever since she had left, in truth, it had been a lifetime… Joey's lifetime.

"Angel," an old man asked as he got up from the porch and walked over to Angela. She had changed, her once dancing eyes were now hardened from the life that she had lived, but her father would know her anywhere.

"Daddy, I…I did a bad thing, and I can't take care of my son on my own…" she said, "Daddy I love him with all my heart and will do anything to keep him, but I sorta ran before graduating and had a bit of trouble so…well, I was wondering if I could work for you to help my angel."

"Angela, you have no idea how long I have waited for you to come home," Angela's father said, "You are a strong girl to come back. But to just work for me won't do your son much good. no, my angel, you go back to school, become a mother to this child."

 _I will daddy, as good a mother to him as you are to me,_ Angela silently vowed as she hugged her father.


End file.
